


Alternate Paths

by madsthenerdygirl



Series: Merlin Memory Month '18 [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-27 02:30:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13871202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madsthenerdygirl/pseuds/madsthenerdygirl
Summary: Merlin, Crown Prince of Camelot, just got himself a new manservant. Neither is pleased about this.





	Alternate Paths

**Author's Note:**

> For the Merlin Memory Month over on tumblr. The prompt was, "Role Switch."

“You cannot be serious.”

Merlin stared in horror at his mother, but Queen Hunith was standing firm on this. He’d recognize the pinched look at the corner of her eyes anywhere.

“When am I ever not serious?” She replied.

It was a fair point. Merlin had heard of how Queen Hunith used to be, back before her husband vanished and all magic had been banned—how she’d been gentle and always had a smile for everyone. There was no kinder queen than Hunith, or so it was said.

That had all changed, before Merlin had even been born. All he knew was the stern queen, the one who would not be argued with.

Even when it was about something as utterly ridiculous as this.

“He’s a complete clotpole!” Merlin said, flinging his arms out.

“That’s not even a proper word,” Hunit replied. “And don’t fling yourself around like this, you’re a prince, carry yourself with some dignity.”

Merlin snapped his hands to the side and tried to straighten up. Hunith raised an eyebrow at him across the desk strewn with papers. “The boy just saved your life, Merlin, I think he should be rewarded for that.”

Merlin frowned. There were times when he really didn’t understand his mother. “How is giving him a job as a servant a reward?”

“The boy’s new to Camelot, is he not?” Hunith replied. “Winter will be coming soon. He has no family, no possessions. Now he’ll have a well-paying job—one of the most well-paid in the city—and a warm place to sleep, plenty of food, he’ll never want for anything. What would you have me give him instead? Money or jewels would only last him so long. This is teaching a man to fish.”

Merlin had to admit that his mother’s logic was sound. He would have just given the boy—Arthur was his name—some money or a ring or something else valuable and sent him on his way. But Hunith was right, giving him a steady job, and such a rewarding one, would mean more to him and last him far longer than some trinket.

“Besides,” Hunith went on, “this solves the problem of finding you a manservant that we can trust. You can never be too careful. This boy has saved your life once already, so we know that he can be trusted in such an intimate position.”

And there it was. Merlin sighed. “You can’t possibly think that a Dragonlord attack is going to come from my manservant of all people.”

“Attacks can come from any place,” Queen Hunith intoned.

Merlin knew better than to argue with his mother about this. He held in his sigh. “Well, if I’m going to have Arthur as my manservant, I’d better educate him.” Gods knew the prat was going to need it.

“Very well, you are dismissed.” Hunith turned to look at her papers.

Merlin bowed and made his exit. Time to find the idiot that had somehow managed, in the course of the day, to fight with Merlin in the marketplace and then save his life at a banquet.

He’d never met anyone who was such a mess of contradictions. He’d met Arthur in the marketplace, where the blond was apparently a newcomer to Camelot and wanting to become a knight. Merlin would have been happy to explain that unfortunately, his mother did not allow commoners to become knights, but he’d been in disguise at the moment because it was the only way he could move about freely and, well, his mother wasn’t supposed to know about it, and then Arthur was being a prat with some of the other boys and Merlin just had to say something, and then Arthur had challenged him, and it had turned into a massive fight…

When all was said and done, the marketplace had been all but destroyed, and Merlin had to use a little bit of his magic. He’d been afraid for a moment that Arthur had seen, but if he had, he’d done a remarkable job of playing dumb.

He’d wanted nothing other than to never see Arthur again—but then, at the banquet that night, an enchantress had tried to kill Merlin as revenge for Queen Hunith ordering the death of her son for practicing magic—and Arthur had saved Merlin’s life.

Now he had the arse as his manservant. Merlin was all but certain that this was going to end in disaster, but there was no use arguing with his mother about it. There was no use in arguing with his mother about most things.

He found Arthur already in Merlin’s bedchambers, staring at Merlin’s boots like they were going to polish themselves if he glared at them hard enough.

“You don’t know the first thing about being a manservant, do you?” Merlin asked. He was unable to keep the grin off of his face.

Arthur jumped, then glared like he was the prince and Merlin was the servant. “I was trained in how to use a sword, not how to sweep,” he replied.

“Well you’ll have to learn, since the queen will never let you be a knight,” Merlin replied.

He hadn’t meant for it to come out as rude. It just felt like that was how everything he said came out around Arthur. It probably had something to do with how, in that first moment before he’d realized what a total prick Arthur was, Merlin could only stare slack-jawed at the soft blond hair and the rippling muscles in his arms and chest.

Fortunately, Arthur helped him get over it by reminding Merlin of what a prat he was. “I suppose she thought you might benefit from a babysitter, seeing as you act more like a peasant than a crown prince.”

He said it as though he were the royalty here, and not Merlin, and that just—that just rubbed Merlin the wrong way. Especially the dig about behaving like a peasant. He was well aware he didn’t act princely, there wasn’t any reason for Arthur to rub it in.

From there it only got worse. Arthur seemed to be making it his mission to make Merlin’s life as miserable as possible, and Merlin couldn’t help but sass at him in return. He could tell that his mother was far from pleased. She wasn’t outright _saying_ that it was unbecoming of a prince to let his temper get the better of him, but Merlin was well-versed in reading Hunith’s eyebrow messages.

Gaius didn’t approve either. Arthur slept down with Gaius, apparently having learned a lot about herbs and such from his sister.

“I know that he can be difficult,” Gaius would say, his tone, as always, carefully neutral, “But I think that you two could learn a lot from one another if you would stop letting your pride stand in the way.”

But it wasn’t until about a month in that anything changed.

Merlin had been keeping the secret of his magic for so long that he had almost forgotten how secret it was. It was, he supposed, like being blind—after a time, it was just how your world was, and you forgot that anyone could look at you differently for it. He had only ever told Gaius about it, because Gaius had been Hunith’s chief magical advisor once upon a time. It was only his deep friendship with her, and his assistance during her difficult labor with Merlin, that had saved him when the purging had started.

Once, Merlin had asked him about that. “How can you stand it?” He had asked, letting Gaius bandage his hand. He’d been trying out a new trick involving fire and it hadn’t exactly worked in his favor. “You had to betray everyone. Turn your back on your people.”

“It wasn’t easy,” Gaius had acknowledged. “But I could feel… something, telling me that I was needed here. That I must under all circumstances stay by the queen’s side. When you started to show the signs you’d inherited your father’s powers, then I knew. I was supposed to stay so that I could protect you.”

Ever since then, Merlin had felt a true sense of duty. Oh, he’d always felt responsibility towards his people, and he had always wanted to make his mother proud, however they might see things differently now and again. But this was intensely personal. Gaius had allowed himself to be branded a traitor by the druids and all who practiced magic so that he could protect and guide Merlin.

It made Merlin determined to do him proud.

And so he had been practicing, to himself, completely forgetting that Arthur was still finishing some laundry and might at any moment step back into Merlin’s chambers.

Then there was the sound of clothing thumping to the floor.

There was no time to hide it, no time to do anything. Merlin could only turn, and gape, as Arthur gaped right back at him.

The tiny dragon, conjured out of fire, danced in the air between them.

“You…” Arthur’s voice died away.

Merlin waved his hand and the tiny dragon disappeared in a puff of smoke. “Please don’t tell anyone,” he babbled. Panic was already bubbling up in his chest. “I—I know—listen, it’s not like I want to hide it—”

“You _idiot_ ,” Arthur hissed. He rushed over, grabbing Merlin’s wrist. Merlin became aware of how close Arthur was standing, and how absolutely thunderous his expression was.

Arthur wasn’t scared of him, Merlin realized, surprised. He was angry.

“Do you realize it could have been anyone who walked in just now?” Arthur demanded, his voice a low growl. “And the curtains are open—Merlin, your mother could have come in just now and where would you be?”

“You—you’re not going to turn me in?”

“Turn you in?” Arthur looked like the very idea made him sick. “No, Merlin, I…” He took a deep breath. “My sister. Morgana. She has magic. Dreams, mostly. That’s why I came here, actually. She said she had a dream that I needed to come here—that there was someone else, someone who’s destiny was intertwined with mine. Two sides of the same coin, she said.”

“Oh.” Merlin couldn’t explain the strange disappointment sinking into his gut like a stone. “Who is this person?”

Arthur gave him a look that plainly said _you’re an idiot_ but also seemed, oddly, fond. “You.”

“Oh,” Merlin said again, very eloquently.

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Listen. I know that I haven’t been the best. Especially since I didn’t understand. I saved your life at the banquet and I thought, well, that must have been what Morgana meant. But now I see…”

“You see what?” Merlin asked, and you know, he and Arthur were standing rather close, and Arthur’s hand was still on his wrist but no longer tight, just… warm and a bit possessive…

“Well, I might not be an official knight, but I know how to fight. I’m your manservant, that means we’re always together.” Arthur shrugged and gave a small, almost bashful smile. “I think I’m supposed to be your bodyguard, you know?”

Merlin nodded. His mother had made several enemies when she’d banned magic, especially with how welcome it had been before. Then he paused. “I—I don’t want you to feel—you don’t owe me anything.”

Arthur dropped Merlin’s wrist, and for a moment Merlin missed the warmth of it, but then Arthur’s hands were on his shoulders, grounding him. “Merlin. My sister’s been in hiding all of her life. She lives in fear. I’d do anything to ensure a better future for her—and now that I know what you are, what you can do… when you come to the throne, you’ll lift the ban on magic, won’t you?”

Merlin nodded. It was the one other big secret he had kept from his mother. Even if he hadn’t been magical himself, he had seen far too much death to justify the ban and the purging. The screams of those burned in the courtyard echoed in his ears at night, worming their way under his skin. “It’ll be the first thing I do,” he swore.

He had never said it out loud before. Not even Gaius knew, although he probably suspected given Merlin’s own powers. But now it was a promise—and a promise he meant to keep. “I swear, Arthur. When I’m king, I’ll lift the ban. Your sister and everyone else will be safe again.”

Arthur smiled, truly smiled, and Merlin felt his heart stutter in his chest. _Oh no_. “Then I don’t owe you anything, Merlin. We’re partners. Helping each other out.”

Merlin found himself smiling back, his heart beating rapidly, too rapidly, in his chest. “Partners.”

It felt like the start of something new, something glorious. And if the feeling of Arthur’s hands on his shoulders lasted throughout the night, well, that was… something for future Merlin to deal with.


End file.
